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Five things you should know about draft

PAT HICKEY

Here are five things you should know about the NHL entry draft July 7-8 at the Bell Centre:

The Canadiens will be busy. The home team not only has the No. 1 overall pick, but the Montreal Canadiens go into the draft with 14 picks, the most of any team. Montreal also has the 26th overall pick Thursday night, thanks to the trade that sent Tyler Toffoli to the Calgary Flames. They have two picks (Nos. 33 and 62) in the second round and three picks in the third round. Don’t be surprised if the Canadiens don’t use all their picks. They could package several to move up in the draft or trade them for selections in future drafts.

Who’s No. 1? When general manager Kent Hughes was asked about the top pick this week, he only went as far as saying the Canadiens have narrowed the selection process to three candidates — Kingston Frontenacs centre Shane Wright, Slovak winger Juraj Slafkovsky and Logan Cooley, a centre with the U.S. National Team Development Program who is headed to the University of Minnesota in the fall. Hughes noted they are different players from different backgrounds and, while there is an argument to be made for each of them, the educated guess is that the Canadiens will make the safe choice and select Wright, who has been the consensus top-rated prospect for the past three years.

Safety first isn’t always the best. The last time the Canadiens had the first overall pick in 1980, there was fan pressure to select local hero Denis Savard, but novice general manager Irving Grundman went with consensus choice Doug Wickenheiser and Chicago picked Savard at No. 3. Wickenheiser had a decent career while Savard polished his Hockey Hall of Fame credentials in the Windy City. Savard did land in Montreal for three seasons late in his career and won his only Stanley Cup with the Canadiens in 1993.

The last time. The Canadiens also have the 26th pick overall. It’s first time since 2007 that Montreal has two first-round picks. The 2007 pick produced defenceman Ryan Mcdonagh at No. 12 and Max Pacioretty at No. 22. Mcdonagh never played for the Canadiens but won two Stanley Cups with Tampa Bay. Pacioretty served as captain of the Canadiens before he was traded to Vegas in a deal that included Nick Suzuki. The last time the draft was held at the Bell Centre was 2009 and the Canadiens struck out when they picked Louis Leblanc at No. 18. The West Island product played only 50 games over two seasons with the Canadiens before returning to finish his degree at Harvard.

Changing of the guard. For the first time since 2003, Trevor Timmins will not be involved in the Canadiens’ drafting, but there will be some experienced people to guide Hughes through his first draft. Jeff Gorton, the vice-president of hockey operations, has participated in the draft as general manager of the New York Rangers and interim GM of the Bruins and he has brought veteran scout Nick Bobrov on board to serve as co-director of amateur scouting with Martin Lapointe. Bobrov, a native of Russia who will oversee European scouting, worked with Gorton in New York. He also shares a connection with Hughes — they both played hockey at Middlebury College in Vermont.

SPORTS

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2022-07-07T07:00:00.0000000Z

2022-07-07T07:00:00.0000000Z

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